1. Technical Field
The present patent document relates generally to a system and method for creating one or more copies of a data-block in a data storage system.
2. Background of the Related Art
Data deduplication is a method in which only unique data is physically kept in a data storage system. The unique data is referenced by a unique “fingerprint” derived from the data often in the form of a cryptographic hash function. Deduplication methods compare the fingerprint of incoming data blocks to the fingerprints of all existing data blocks. If the incoming data block is unique it is stored, if it is not unique it is not stored but is added as a reference to the existing unique data block. When data is copied internally in a system using deduplication there is a 100% certainty that the unique fingerprint for this data is also already stored in the data storage system. However, the system must efficiently keep track of where these duplicate are.
Therefore, there is a perceived need in the industry for a method of copy data within a data deduplication system that is efficient and accurate.